Book Review: Dreamology by Lucy Keating

Goodreads Description: For as long as Alice can remember, she has dreamed of Max. Together they have traveled the world and fallen deliriously, hopelessly in love. Max is the boy of her dreams—and only her dreams. Because he doesn’t exist.

But when Alice walks into class on her first day at a new school, there he is. It turns out, though, that Real Max is nothing like Dream Max, and getting to know each other in reality isn’t as perfect as Alice always hoped.

When their dreams start to bleed dangerously into their waking hours, the pair realize that they might have to put an end to a lifetime of dreaming about each other. But when you fall in love in your dreams, can reality ever be enough?

I’m sure most of us have had dreams fantasizing about the perfect someone — I know I’m no exception. I was excited to read this book because the story’s plot sounded like a dream come true (pun intended).

The beginning of this book gave me total Ten Things I Hate About You vibes, and that wasn’t a bad thing. I’m a total sucker for the new-kid-in-school trope, especially when that school is for preppy, rich kids.

Keating did a fantastic job of adding humor to the story by making good use of numerous character cliches. For example:

the serious dean who never smiles

the school trouble maker who happens to take an interest in the new girl

the hip, young teacher

the ride-or-die best friend

the eccentric parent who doesn’t exactly know what’s happening in his kid’s life

and my personal favorite

the cool, hipster girlfriend who once dated a college boy while she was in high school

I was reading part of this book during class (I know, shame on me. But, to be fair, we weren’t doing anything important… I think.) and I was struggling to stifle my laughter.

At times, I felt like I was reading the screenplay for a 90s teen movie, and I was digging it.

The romance was cute and fluffy, but I have to admit that I didn’t like Max at times. It seemed like he would just storm off without properly communicating to Alice about what was bothering him, leaving her alone to think about what she did wrong.

I also wished Keating expounded more on how Alice and Max’s dreams were connected. The explanation was pretty vague and seemed like it was written more as an after thought to the story. I realize that the book isn’t meant to be a science fiction novel, but I missed the technicalities that would have been provided if it were.

Dreamology was a cute, super quick read. What it lacked in its plot, it made up for in its humor.